Can city employee accept free
admission to a class offered by a city vendor that is not related to city
duties?

II. Inquiry

The City of San
Antonio’s Department of Community Initiatives
contracts with outside organizations to provide educational programs at the
city’s community centers.An employee
who works in that department would like to enroll in one of these programs and
has been offered one of two complimentary positions for the class.The employee asks whether she may accept
this complimentary tuition.

III.The Ethics Code - Receipt of Gifts or
Benefits

The Ethics
Code includes two rules which regulate the acceptance of gifts by city
employees.The first restricts gifts
given with the intent to influence or reward a city official or employee for
official action.This rule states:

A city official or employee shall not solicit, accept, or
agree to accept any gift or benefit for himself or herself or his or her
business:

(A) that reasonably tends to influence or reward official
conduct; or

(B)that the
official or employee knows or should know is being offered with the intent to
influence or reward official conduct.

Ethics
Code, Section 2-45(a)(1).

The second
rule restricts gifts from specific sources, regardless of the motivation for
the gift:

A city official or employee shall not solicit, accept, or
agree to accept any gift or benefit, from:

(A) any individual or business entity doing or
seeking to do business with the City; or

(B) any registered lobbyist or public
relations firm; or

(C) any person seeking action or
advocating on zoning or platting matters before a city body,

save and
except for

i)items received
that are of nominal value; or

ii) meals in
an individual expense of $50 or less at any occurrence and no more than a
cumulative value of $500 in a single calendar year from a single source.

Ethics Code, Section 2-45(a)(2).

There is no indication from the
inquiry that the free tuition is being offered for the purpose of influencing
official action by the employee, so the first gift rule is not implicated.The second rule, however, applies to gifts
from city vendors or contractors, regardless of the purpose underlying the
offer of the benefit.Items of “nominal
value” are defined as benefits which have a fair market value of $50 or
less.Ethics Code, Section 2-45(e)(4).The value of this course exceeds $50.

Section 2-45(b)(11) provides an
exception to the second gift rule that allows an employee to accept free
admission to an education program if the training is related to the employee’s
official duties and the training furthers the interests of the city.The employee, though, has acknowledged that
her interest in the class is personal and is not business-related.Accordingly, the employee could not accept
this educational benefit under this exception.

IV. Conclusion

The Ethics Code does not prohibit a city employee from attending
a course offered by a city vendor or contractor through one of its community
center programs.The employee may attend the class if she wishes on her
personal time, but must pay tuition on the same terms and conditions as any
other student.